Texsox

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 10:57 AM) The Tribune says the Halos are throwing in some cash. CASH!!!! Then we did win.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 10:51 AM) Blue Monday - New Order I Don't Like Mondays - Boom Town Rats

And Jenks, the other reason they shop here, is we kiss their asses with marketing campaigns. We'd rather they spend those hundreds of millions here than San Antonio or other locations. A large share of a store's advertising budget is spent in Mexico. We also need to lure them away from Mexico businesses.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 10:47 AM) Keep calling people like us racist if you like, that's fine. I don't expect anything more. Just don't expect us to stand by and be happy about anarchy in our country. I am not calling anyone racists. The focus of dialog in the US has been the problems that Mexicans has inflicted on the US. There have been protests, the Minutemen have been around the border. Very little pro-Mexico support out there. And all this is necessary, we have to address the issues. But that clearly is an anti-Mexico sentiment. Much of the focus on Mexico has all been negative. I am sorry if it appears I am labeling someone a racists. I believe it is very possible to believe a wall is desirable and not be racists. Those labels make any sort of sane discussion impossible and too emotionally charged. Would it be better if I used something like all the news about Mexico has been negative in the US?

Noooooooooooooooo

QUOTE(The Critic @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 10:46 AM) Love Song - Tesla No bonus points, Kid! Song Sung Blue - Neil Diamond

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 10:42 AM) Love Song - The Damned ***do I get double points??? Song of the South - John Anderson - Seminole Wind

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 10:28 AM) Where else are they going to shop? Are they going to travel a thousand miles to the south? They have no other option. They shop here for a reason - they get the best price on the goods the want/need. You think they shop in the US because they like us more? If they can buy what they want in their own country, why do they make a trek across the border? Vacations. Nice trip. Cuba is also a very popular destination as is the the Caribbean and other cities in Mexico. Why do suburbanites head to State Street at Christmas? Because they have to? Because they like you more? They could go to Woodfield. If they can buy what they want in Schaumburg, why do they drive to Chicago? Although city folks shopping in suburban malls may encounter some problems

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 10:03 AM) "could see a similar downturn" And they also could not. They would shop in Mexico. They would stay there." If the goods they wanted/needed were available there for a price they wanted to pay, they would have stayed there to begin with. "Any kind of fence that would interfere with that access is a real problem," McClung said. " So we have Mexicans coming into America to get water, or Americans going in to Mexico to get water? What is it? Wold the wall prevent Americans from getting access to the river, and which country is the river in anyway? (just a question, a real question, not snark) Generally, the river is split between the two. I really interesting situation is occurring in areas with oxbows forming. Some areas, as the oxbow pinches off, create places where a section of land is on the "wrong" side of the river. Perhaps more than you want to know, but fascinating to some. Prior to this, you would suddenly be owning land in Mexico or the US when the river changed courses. We have all our irrigation and drinking water coming from the river, both sides. Water rights is a huge issue here. Which country can pump out how much is carefully regulated through a series of treaties. Levels in the reservoirs in Mexico and the US are measured and verified to be certain both countries are sending their share into the Rio Grande. Presently Mexico is "in debt" several trillion acre feet of water. It's been raining on the US side more than the Mexico side. Both countries send over satellites to measure the reservoirs. All the pumps, inlets. etc. are in and near the river. The fence, as proposed, is being built away from the river, on part of the levee system, so it can be patrolled. Most of the land between the fence and the river is agriculture. The workers will need to get to that land and back. Necessitating gates of some kind or buying all the best farmland and putting those growers out of business. The fence isn't going through some wilderness areas. It is going through people's homes and businesses. Imagine if you suddenly could not get to 2/3rds of your business without going through a security checkpoint.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 09:58 AM) Come on....how would a fence do that? If you're buying that many goods and going back across the border, you certainly didn't jump a fence to get there. You had to go through some security checkpoint. Obviously armed border guards aren't giving these people much of a "f*** you mexicans" message, otherwise they wouldn't continue to shop. I'm against the fence idea. I think it'd be a gigantic waste of money. But I'm reallly tired of the pass people want to give illegals. I'd be for a guest worker program - if those guest workers prove they've been working and prove they've been paying their share of taxes. Otherwise kick em out and let them go through the process (which should get revamped no doubt). The wall is part of this anti-Mexican sentiment that is felt very strongly in Mexico. There is some nationalistic pride at work here as well. These people choose to visit the US and spend their money. The wall says we do not want Mexicans, that armed border guards are not enough. So many have said their feelings are, you don't want us, fine, we will spend our money at home or travel elsewhere. Also realize they probably know someone who has emmigrated here, either legally or illegally. They also may have ancestors who became Americans after 1846.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 09:44 AM) I find it ironic that Mexico cries foul when we talk about border security, legal immigration, and our social policies. Yet if I was an illegal in Mexico, I couldn't get a drivers license, couldn't own land, couldn't vote, and most likely would be in jail. You are missing the point. The shoppers we are talking about come here legally. They view the fence as Anti-Mexican and makes them feel like they are not wanted, even though they are very much wanted by us. The anti-Mexican sentiment is tough for people here legally, even just as tourists. How can the general public tell the difference between a family here legally and illegally? Is that the environment you would choose for a vacation?

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 09:32 AM) So you're in favor of a policy that will destoy a nations social benefits system? No. I'm in favor of a plan that matches US employers with the workers they need, via a guest worker system. I am in favor of a border security program that works without destroying innocent people in the process. We offer these social benefits to people who earn below a certain amount of money. Once those jobs are on the books, with legal employees, more people, not less, will be eligible for those benefits. The benefits, like student financial aid, medical, food, etc. are tied to the income from that job. So the destroy our system analogy is not that good. The only thing that keeps these jobs from causing the problems you allude to are continuing to hire illegals, which we cannot tolerate anymore. But gives great insight to why politicians in both parties have failed to act.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 09:23 AM) Eyes Without A Face - The Flesheaters All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes - Pete Townsend

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 09:22 AM) I wouldn't call Ferret Face a "rabid warhawk". He was more of a War Chickenhawk with a bad cold. Rabid Warhawk actually makes him sound like a threat, and aside from being a BAD tank driver, I don't know if he was ever that much of a threat. I know what ya mean though. Now...Col. Flag, he was a rabid warhawk. Was that really Flag?

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 09:20 AM) And they have put up 12 million signs that they hate Americian law and order. That is how it is perceived. So you're in favor of an policy that will destroy a region's economy here in the US?

So because y'all up north employ illegals, it's f*** the Americans who live here? Nice policy from the "pro-government" party.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 09:01 AM) Tex, you act like because of the wall there will never be tourism and noone will ever want to visit the US of A again. Please stop being so over the top. The people at your mall had to come here somehow, possible over a road and thru a checkpoint, which would still exist with a wall. We are putting up a 700 mile sign that says we hate Mexicans. That is how it is perceived.

Nice article on Romney. More and more I realize this is an industry and the background players stay the same, it's just a different brand of politician they are promoting, like mouthwash or hemorrhoid cream. If they can prove he push polled himself, you can cue Freddy Mercury . . . Another One Bites The Dust . . .

Do you think they discovered that "I don't know" polls well? I really like that he appears more genuine than the other candidates, but I know in the back of my mind, at times, I'm seeing Arthur Branch, not Fred Thompson. I am also feeling a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington vibe. I believe Thompson is one of the honest candidates with some backbone and integrity.

Setting up for a push poll.

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 07:34 AM) Fire and Rain - James Taylor Fire on the Mountain - Marshall Tucker Band

The movie is even better than the TV show. I place the TV show in my top 5 of all time. It claimed the #1 sitcom spot for a very long time. You may wish to mention in your homework assignment that the TV show actually ran longer than the war itself. One of the themes that would periodically emerge was that the Doctors really did not care which side their patient fought on, they all bled the same. Well all except Major Burns who was the rabid war hawk. Unlike WW1 and WW2, this enemy was a little less clear, a little less evil. With Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of citizens stood up and said, maybe we shouldn't be fighting this war. M*A*S*H was able to show this to a greater extent because of the Vietnam War. Prior to Vietnam, depicting a Japanese or German soldier in a sympathetic way would not have been well received.

Yesterday's experience at the mall may help to explain the differences between the border area and the interior in our attitudes towards Mexico. The mall was packed, literally every parking space was full. They closed lots and only allowed cars in when someone left. In the row of 46 cars where I parked, over thirty carried license plates from Mexico. Nuevo Leon was #1, that would be the state where Monterrey, a great city, is located, which is about three hours away via the autopista. But there were several other states as well. And the number of packages filling their trunks was staggering. Most of the retail stores in this area will rank in their chains top 10 nationally. The largest volume JC Penny store happens to be in McAllen a city of barely 100,000. The last year I saw a report from our local Chamber of Commerce, almost 3/4 of the new businesses were owned by Mexican-Nationals investing in the US and getting their money out of Mexico. 70% of the condominiums on South Padre Island are owned by Mexican-Nationals. Without the influx of Mexican cash into the border economy, it fails and fails hard. We saw it with the peso devaluation a couple decades ago. We're seeing it now as many Mexicans are feeling the anti-Mexican sentiment that is sweeping the US. At the mall, almost every sales clerk approached me in Spanish first. My friend and I jokingly waited to see how long it would take to hear a conversation in English. So with this wall, and the attitude it represents, we are potentially screwing with the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Americans who depend on the trade brought in by these tourists. We potentially screw with the farmers and ranchers, all the retail trades, the hotels, restaurants, and other tourist attractions. The towns and cities that depend on the tax revenues. Perhaps if people on the border had an attitude of f*** your town, we don't care about you, you would understand our feelings.

QUOTE(Leonard Zelig @ Nov 18, 2007 -> 07:24 PM) Little Drummer Boy--Mark Kozelek Different Drum - Linda Ronstadt